Masconomet Regional High School Photography Website

Welcome to our site. It was created to highlight the photography work created by

students in various digital art courses at Masconomet Regional High School, located in​Boxford, Massachusetts. Please feel free to peruse the images contained within this

website, but remember that the photographs are the property of the photographers

​that took them.

Classroom Management for Art, Music and PE Teachers

By Michael Linsin

Chapter 3: A Chance to SucceedIf in the first moments after giving your ‘go’ signal your students struggle to follow your directions, that’s okay. Resist the urge to jump in and help. Resist the urge to remind and correct and encourage. In the long run they’re far better off if you refrain from getting involved. In nearly every circumstance, if you used ‘you’ and ‘going to’ language, and if you created powerful visualizations, the reason your students are struggling is because in the past they’ve received too much help.

They have become so accustomed to someone stepping in with reminders that they’ve lost the ability to do it themselves. They’ve lost their independence. They’ve become frozen, unable to transfer the directions you give them in action. This is called learned helplessness, and it’s startling how many of today’s students suffer from it.

The best way to teach your students that they can indeed do it themselves, that they don’t need you or your help, is to fade into the background and let them struggle. That’s right. You’re going to step back and observe from a distance as they try to figure out what needs to get done. You’re going to let them work their way through the directions you’ve provided them until find success on the other side.

If you notice leaders taking over and directing others, this is good. If you see student’s watching and mimicking others, this is also good. They need to build up their confidence without teacher help first before they can become reliant on themselves. Every time your class successfully works their way through what you’ve asked them to do without your two cents, they get one step closer to greater independence. They become so used to you giving directions one time and with no reminders that it becomes an expectation. And this makes all the difference. It encourages better listening up front and creates a tenacious mindset that takes pride in a job well done.

When you first use this strategy, your class may very well crash and burn. They may get to the point of failure, to the point where they have no clue how to proceed. It is only at this point that you will step in. But you won’t step in by offering reminders. You won’t simply call over the group and tell them where they’ve done wrong. You won’t lecture, admonish, or criticize. Because remember, it isn’t their fault. Somewhere along the line the adults in their life, including their teachers, have done too much for them.

The best way to handle it is to start over from the beginning. Send your students back to their desks, the grandstands, or to wherever they were when you first gave them your directions. Pause again and give them the same directions over again, word for word. This time, they’ll get it right and you’ll be one step closer to the sharp, independent class you want…

For improving listening, following directions, and independence, however, there isn’t a more powerful strategy than presenting spot-on direction and then stepping back and allowing your students to learn how to rely on themselves, to learn how to become competent and trustworthy, and to learn how to approach problems and challenges with determination and confidence.